PromptWhat are the different ways race can be defined in society? How does this challenge the understanding of race as simply a fixed, biological category?InstructionsStudents will receive up to 15 po

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What are the different ways race can be defined in society?  How does this challenge the understanding of race as simply a fixed, biological category?

            As we have learned this week, “there are probably differences of all sorts in the world” (Hall 1997) and “there is no reason to deny this reality or this diversity” (Hall, 1997).  “It is only when these differences have been organized within language, within discourse, within systems of meaning, that the differences can be said to acquire meaning and can become a factor in human culture and regulate conduct” (Hall, 1997).  Within this, we start to see color and language barriers and associate these colors and language barriers with a race which thus can either benefit or hinder the world based upon its acceptance. We also see the when “we define a social problem it will affect the way we conceive of its solution” (Yancy, 2006, pg.19) and that “if we have an incomplete definition of a problem, then we will envision a limited solution” (Yancy, 2006, pg.19)

            When we accept the cultural differences, we embrace the fact that we are all created as one, accept that “at the root of our being, we are all blood related” (Week 1 Presentation, n.d.) and that “blood knows no color, ethnicity, language, etc.” (Week 1 Presentation, n.d.).  We start to realize that we are all created by God and that we are all brothers and sisters through Christ.  We also start to see that though we do have differences, we also have far more similarities and that we are more alike than we think.

            When we do not accept cultural differences, we see hate.  This is usually associated with not accepting different races and not being able to accept that everyone is ethically different.  This brings on riots, which we are seeing today, and things such as homes and businesses being destroyed.  It creates a world of sadness and makes our God as well as ourselves unhappy. And, “if we are truly honest, we will admit that we tend to define racism in a way that allows us to escape blame or to gain social resources from others” (Yancy, 2006, pg.20) which simply should not be.

            What we need to do is view the world through Gods eyes as he originally envisioned it and see that it was never intended for it to be this way. We need to “eliminate the tendency of individuals to engage in racism” (Yancy, 2006, pg.21) and remember that God wants us to love one another and embrace each other for who we truly are regardless of our race or our diversity. He wants us to accept one another for our true selves and not by the color of our skin, our ethical backgrounds, by what we wear or by how we talk.  These are all stereotypes and he does not want us to judge others by these means.  He wants us to be accepting and loving like he is. 

Work cited:

Stuart Hall (1997) Race, the Floating Signifier.

Week 1 Presentation. (n.d.). Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://seu.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/30784/viewContent/1333047/View

Yancy, G., (2006). Beyond Racial Gridlock Inter Varsity Press.